An Olympia man is facing a felony stalking charge in Lewis County Superior Court for allegedly sending threatening text messages to a woman protected under a domestic violence no-contact order.
The defendant, Matthew T. Fauls, 41, was convicted of three domestic violence charges — fourth-degree assault, harassment and third-degree malicious mischief — in Lewis County Superior Court in March 2021.
The charges stemmed from a November 2020 incident where Fauls attacked and threatened to kill a woman who was breaking up with him and destroyed property at her Centralia residence, according to court documents.
Fauls was additionally convicted in March 2021 of violating a court order protecting the victim while that case was ongoing.
As part of his sentence for those convictions, which included 16 days under electronic home monitoring and substance abuse treatment, Lewis County Superior Court entered a domestic violence protection order prohibiting Fauls from having any contact with the victim for the next five years.
In March 2022, the victim contacted the Centralia Police Department to report text messages Fauls had allegedly been sending her since January of that year, according to court documents.
“(The victim) said she has been fearful of reporting this, which is why it has taken so long. She is afraid Mr. Fauls is going to hurt or kill her,” according to court documents.
Fauls is accused of sending 36 text messages to the victim between Jan. 20 and March 31, 2022, in which he “made threats to kill her,” according to court documents.
One of the texts, sent Jan. 27, reportedly included a video of Fauls holding a firearm.
The officer who took the statement from the victim reported going through the victim’s phone and finding 33 incoming calls from Fauls between 9:55 and 9:57 p.m. that day, according to court documents.
Fauls was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on multiple Centralia Municipal Court warrants for protection order violations at 2:12 a.m. on Dec. 19.
He was charged in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of felony stalking, domestic violence, on Jan. 5.
The charge is a class B felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Judge J. Andrew Toynbee granted the deputy prosecutor’s request to set Fauls’ bail at $50,000 during a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday.
“It’s clear to me that (Fauls) presents a serious threat to community safety and that without that bail, he would seek to intimidate witnesses or otherwise interfere with the administration of justice,” said Toynbee on Thursday.
Fauls’ arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12.
